How to Write a Poem

Poetry is a beautiful art form, a way to express your innermost feelings, whether they be good or bad. You can put your thoughts into words and let them be heard by others. Through history there have been great poets who have told beautiful stories of love and lose, of death, of fears and of excitements. It is a glorious thing to read a well written piece of poetry, and it is equally as lovely to be able to write a beautiful piece of poetry as well. Writing a poem can at times seem like a daunting task, you may have an idea but not be sure how to execute it, or perhaps you are looking for inspiration to help you write the perfect words for a love one.

If you are looking for inspiration as to what to write a great place to start is with writing exercise. Once you find your inspiration from there you can then shape your ideas and thoughts into lines of poetry. A great way to find this is through writing prompts, they are easy to come across online, and they will help you to start flowing in what to write and what to say and help you find your voice as an author. Another great exercise is brainstorming, such as mapping or lists or diagrams, think of things you like, you are passionate about and that excite you, then build on those until you have the map or basis of a poem. If this does not work why not get out of your environment, go for a walk somewhere new, sit in a cafe and watch the crowds walk by, these seemingly meaningless actions will help you to find new ideas you may not of thought of before and before you know it you will be writing up a storm.

Once you have your inspiration and idea of what you want to write about you can start to build your poem. Now you want to choose what form of poem you will be writing, there are shorter poems, like haikus, there are more funny forms like the limerick. Or perhaps a sonnet or rhyming couplet is more your style. Whichever you chose to do some research before you start so that you know the structure of the poem and how you will be writing it. If you are unsure it is a good idea to look up ideas of the types of poems that you like, this way you can get a feel for the proper structure and format of the poem you will be writing.

When you feel you are prepared it is time to write the poem and put your ideas to paper. Use concrete imagery in your writing so that you are clear in what you are saying, stay away from too many abstract words and ideas. As you go read your work aloud to yourself this will give you a better idea of how the poem is going as poems are usually written to be read aloud. When you are satisfied with how the poem sounds proof read it one last time to check for any mistakes, then share your work of art with the world.